The director of consumer marketing, who has worked at the airport for 21 years, said: “Manchester is one of the leading destinations regarding number of passengers between UK cities and Düsseldorf. Two airlines, Flybe and Eurowings, offer six flights a day and last year we saw more than 180,00 passengers on this route.”

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Between the two transport hubs business travel accounts for 55 per cent of passengers with leisure travel making up the further 45 per cent.

The 53-year-old said: “It goes without saying that this is based on strong business relationships between various companies in both catchment areas.

“Last year, 1.4m people flew between destinations in the UK and Düsseldorf. This makes the UK currently number three in the market in Europe for us, behind Spain and Turkey.”

The popularity of Germany as a destination stop has grown tremendously over the years.

Since 1993 the number of overnight stays by foreign visitors to Germany has risen by 45 million.

And it seems that the North Rhine-Westphalia has a unique offering, especially around Christmas time.

“Düsseldorf is a vibrant city and a gateway to many attractive sights and places in the German state.

“The region has a lot to offer for visitors and promotion of tourism would assist both cities to become even more visible on our tourism maps. German Christmas markets are becoming very popular in Great Britain but just a short flight away, in North Rhine-Westphalia you can experience the real thing.

“Here you will find some very beautiful markets, not only the classical and larger ones in Düsseldorf, at Cologne Cathedral or in the Old Town of Aachen, but also many extraordinary ones in front of castles, half-timbered houses or even in woods and lesser-known destinations.”

Mischke is responsible for developing passenger traffic to and from Dusseldorf airport in Germany and abroad.

For the North Rhine-Westphalia region, the British market is one of the most important incoming markets.

In 2015 the accommodation facilities in the region registered about 797,000 overnight stays by British citizens.

Thus, Brits are placed a high second, after only the Dutch, when it comes to foreign tourists in North Rhine-Westphalia. But it is not just a one-way street.

The number of German visitors to Greater Manchester and the incoming investment is just as vital to the local economy.

Tim Newns, chief executive officer, MIDAS, Manchester’s inward investment agency, said: “Greater Manchester is a key FDI location of choice for Germany with recent reports showing that the region is the most popular for German investment outside of London.

“Over 2,330 jobs have been created in the region in the last 13 years following investment from German companies such as Siemens, Qiagen, BOC, Adidas, DHL and Aldi.

“German financial institute Deka’s recent investment of £164m into One St Peter’s Square in the city centre, plus the £100m acquisition of Two St Peter’s Square by Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, is testament to the continued importance of Germany to Manchester’s economy.”

With a strong mutually beneficial relationship I ask Mischke how the looming prospect of Brexit could upset the balance?

Short but firm he answered: “The UK has always been a big and substantial air transport market and it will be in the future. We don’t see any reason, why this should change.”

Sheona Southern, managing director at Marketing Manchester summed up what the German market is worth here.

“As our fourth largest market for inbound visits into Greater Manchester, the value of the German market cannot be understated.

“Over 93,000 Germans visited in 2015 for holiday or business purposes and, significantly, this figure represents a 20% increase when we compare it against 2014.

“A typical visitor from Germany will have an average length of stay of around four days and when we map this against their average spend the economic impact of German visitation is worth over £23m annually to Greater Manchester.

“The region is exceptionally well connected to Germany. We have direct flights to Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich, Cologne and Dusseldorf, which means we are an easy destination for a short break or business meeting.

“Of course the challenge for us going forward is to keep growing the German market and make it clear that despite global politics Manchester is an optimistic, outward-looking and confident city-region that remains welcoming to tourists and open for business.”